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The Sun
Wednesday December 19, 2012
Historic naval battle recalled By Chris Tobin Not many New Zealand survivors of the historic World War II Battle of the River Plate are left but Blenheim has one. He’s Harold Heffer and last Thursday the 96-year-old attended the 73rd anniversary of the battle at a special function organised
by the Royal New Zealand Naval Association (Marlborough branch) at Marlborough Clubs. Mr Heffer, enjoyed a tot of rum in the traditional Up Spirits ceremony yesterday which preceded a dinner. Naval association president Barry Rolton said only four other New Zealanders who served on HMS
Achilles at The Battle of the River Plate off the coast of Uruguay and Argentina, on December 13, 1939, were still alive. The battle was the first major naval battle of WWII. Mr Heffer served in the navy from 1936 to 1948 and was a leading stoker on HMS Achilles.
Source of pride The 82-minute battle between the pocket battleship Graf Spee and three smaller British opponents – Achilles, Ajax and Exeter – in the South Atlantic in 1939 ended with all four ships damaged. The British ships suffered 72 fatalities (among them two New Zealanders) to the Graf
Spee’s 36. But t he Ger ma n warship’s subsequent withdrawal to the neutral Uruguayan port of Montevideo, a nd it s d r a m a t ic scuttling by its own crew on December 17, 1939, turned the Battle of the River Plate into a major British victory – and a welcome morale boost for the Allied
cause. Achilles’ role in the battle was a special source of pride for New Zealanders, who
welcomed the ship’s crew home at huge parades in Auckland and Wellington in early 1940.
Tot of rum. Battle of the River Plate veteran Harry Heffer enjoys an 'Up Spirit" tot of rum. From left Mr Heffer's daughter Lois Freeth, husband Don Freeth and Royal NZ Naval Association president (Marlbrough branch) Barry Roulton.
Set goals, school award winners advised By Chris Tobin Some of Marlborough’s up and coming youth were encouraged to set career goals on Friday. Speaking at the Marlbrough Lines Tertiary Study Awards, the company’s managing director Ken Forrest said that since the awards were inaugurated, in excess of 200 Marlborough youth had been recipients. “And they’ve excelled nationally and internationally,” Mr Forrest said. “I have every confidence you people will similarly succeed and I urge you to think of the goals you seek.” The awards date back to the the mid-1980s when the then Marlborough Electric Power Board started them at the suggestion of the late Lawrie Duckworth, a former deputy mayor of Blenheim who passed away in September this year. On Friday seven students were presented with the awards which were worth $18,500 and will assist with their studies. The 2012 recipients were.Leatham Landon-Lane, Marlborough Boys’ College, dux (will be studying for a Bachelor of Engineering at Canterbury University); Christopher Swan, MBC, proxime accessit (Degree in Design, Massey University); Rebecca Forgesson, Marlborough Girls’ College, dux (Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), Canterbury University); Sonia Ginders, MGC, proxime accessit (BA
Rapaura Springs adds to success The Rapaura Springs 2012 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc has been named one of the two best Sauvignon Blancs in the country by Cuisine Magazine’s judging panel. The judges on the Cuisine tasting panel said the wine exhibits ripe herbal flavours mingled with notes of
Mirabelle plums and warm lemons. The Cuisine achievement follows hard on the heels of other wins for the Rapaura Springs 2012 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, wh ich took P u re Gold in the Air New Zealand Wine awards and Gold in the International Aromatic Wine Competition.
X Factor coming to Blenheim
Jacqui Leslie.; Rebecca Forgesson; Justin Richards; Christopher Swan; Leatham Landon-Lane; Sonia Ginders; Cheyenne Conroy-Mosdell (absent Jacques Breedt). Photo: Jacqui Leslie
and law, Otago University); Cheyenne Conroy-Mosdell, Queen Charlotte College, d u x ( BA , C a n t e r b u r y University); Justin Richards, QCC, proxime accessit (yet to be confirmed); and Jacques Breedt, Rai Valley Area School (pilot’s course Ardmore Aviation School, Auckland).
Ken Forrest, managing director of Marlborough Lines, with Leatham LandonLane after presenting him with his award.
By Chris Tobin Cla ra va n Wel proved Blenheim is a town with talent with her recent NZ Got Talent win. Next month other Ma rlbu r ia ns wi l l have a chance to show their abilities when auditions are held for another music competition show, X Factor New Zealand. The TV3 show will be holding auditions at Marlborough Girls’ College on January 16 from 10am to 3pm. Starting in Q ue enstow n on Ja nua r y 5 a nd finishing in Kaitaia a month later, the preaudition tour is the first stage of finding top New Zealand singing talent. Co - execut ive
producer of t he X-Factor A nd rew Sz u s t e r m a n s a id the competition was about finding the next great singer to sign with Sony Music Entertainment. “It is a massive production with lots and lots of different layers and we’ve been working on this thing for quite some time and we’re now at the point where we’re ready to get the rest of New Zealand auditioning away to see who the next big recording artist out of this country’s going to be.” Contestants who are successful in the preauditions will get to perform in front of the four judges and a live audience.